Read Online Thunder in the Night (Crimson Romance) by Kate Fellowes - Free Book Online Page B

and cuts on them. They didn’t ache quite as much this morning, but the skin was still tender and bruised. “If they’d asked for the camera, I might have been persuaded to hand it over,” I said wryly. “Better that than this.”
    “If it’s any consolation, Allison, I’d say it’s a safe bet they’ll leave you alone now. They accomplished their task and got your pictures. You can borrow my camera for the rest of the trip.”
    “Thanks, I’d appreciate that. But, my pictures — when I got back to my room, I sent them to my work address.”
    He was silent an instant as my meaning became clear. Mart dropped his voice low. “You’d already saved the pictures?” There was no one around our table. Most trekkers had long since headed off to the marketplaces. Still, he spoke cautiously. “You can still access your photos from Tikal?”
    Slowly, I moved my head up and down. “Safe and sound,” I said. “I’ve got that blog to keep up, remember? I want to put the pictures on the page.”
    Mart drew his index finger down the length of his nose several times, as if that would help him concentrate. “Well, that puts things in a different light. I’d like to see those pictures later.”
    “Any time. And I’ll just let the burglar think he got what he wanted,” I stated. “But I still don’t understand. Mart, what is Clark involved in? What do you suspect?” It was hard for me to picture the suave, professional zoo director as part of some cloak-and-dagger scheme, but explanations weren’t exactly heavy on the ground.
    “Allison, I think it’s best if you stay out of this.”
    “Level with me. What’s going on?”
    “I wish I could tell you — ”
    “You’d better tell me!”
    “But I don’t really know myself,” Mart finished his sentence and I bit my lip into silence. “You see, there was that bit of shake-up at the zoo recently. I don’t know if you remember?”
    “I just came to Rochester,” I reminded him.
    “Okay, then you don’t know. Tommy Mendoza, the man who previously held my position as assistant to the director, he was the man killed on the last zoo trek.”
    Ah ha , I thought. I was about to hear the real story Jen had hinted at. I leaned forward. “How?”
    “Let’s start with where. Right here. In the rain forest. He didn’t show up one morning to lead a tour as scheduled. His body was discovered later that day, tangled up in a zipline in the jungle.” Mart paused to let that information penetrate.
    Goosebumps rose all over my body at the stark words and the image they brought to mind. I shivered to drive them away.
    Mart, noticing, asked quickly, “Do you want to hear the rest?”
    “Yes, yes. Go on.” I lifted my glass of mineral water and drained it.
    Mart continued the story. “I never met Tommy Mendoza. I’ve heard some rumors and innuendo from staff, of course, but no one ever seemed to have any facts. None they’ve shared with me anyway. From what I can gather, the zoo was quick to play it down when he was killed. Emphasized it was an accident.”
    That would explain Elaine’s remark about the incident being “unfortunate,” I thought.
    Mart fell silent, picking absently at a fingernail.
    “But it wasn’t an accident,” I made it a statement.
    “No,” Mart said, shaking his head. “No.”
    My fingers itched for my pen. “Clark said there were drugs involved.”
    “That could very well be true. Drugs are big business. Trafficking into the States is huge.”
    “Trafficking into the States,” I thought out loud. “Bringing drugs in.” The penny dropped. “Zoo treks?”
    Mart looked up at the last, a sharp point to his gaze.
    “Ah.”
    Lifting his shoulders, Mart said, “It’s a possible explanation. Mendoza may have been using zoo treks to smuggle drugs into the States. Had a falling out with one of his cohorts.”
    “This is all speculation,” I said, sitting back in my chair. “How do you know Mendoza’s death wasn’t an accident? Who